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Disabled Protestors Carried Off From McConnell's Office

Protestors were seen being carried away from outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office after text of the GOP Senate health care bill was released Thursday. (Published Thursday, June 22, 2017)

Capitol Police removed protesters, many of whom are disabled and use wheelchairs, from outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office after text of the GOP Senate health care bill was released Thursday.

Police made a total of 43 arrests at the demonstrations, the Capitol Police said. They were charged with crowding, obstructing, or incommoding, authorities said.

The Protesters were organized by a group called ADAPT, which identifies itself as a nonprofit for people with disabilities.

Video of the protest showed the protesters being carried away by police officers as they chanted "no cuts to Medicaid." Empty wheelchairs remained in the hall after the arrests, the video shows.

Just prior to the protest, Senate Republicans released their long-awaited bill Thursday to dismantle much of Barack Obama's health care law.

The Senate bill would, beginning in 2020, phase out over four years extra money that Obamacare offered to the 32 states that expanded Medicaid coverage for low-income people, The Associated Press reported. It would also limit, beginning in 2020, the federal funds that states get each year for Medicaid. That money now covers all eligible recipients and procedures.

President Donald Trump's $4.1 trillion budget proposal for 2018 also includes $600 billion in decreases to Medicaid, apparently on top of health care bill cuts. Medicaid provides health care not only to the poor, but also to elderly and disabled Americans, who account for 60 percent of the cost.